Aoki Masaru
Masaru Aoki (青木勝, Aoki Masaru) is a supporting character and tritagonist in Hajime no Ippo. He is a Lightweight professional boxer and one of the core members of the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. He, along with Kimura Tatsuya, are known to have been scouted into boxing by Takamura Mamoru, an individual they swore to defeat but eventually came to admire. His surname is Aoki. In Japan, surnames are listed before given names. Background Aoki is the oldest brother of his nine siblings and was starred in a TV show about his family called "Heartwarming Special Presents: The Hectic Life of an 11-Person Family". He was helpful to his family by cooking meals for his whole family. Aoki would be forced to leave the family because his dad got very sick and ending up running a ramen shop called "Chuuka Soba", making use of the natural cooking talent. The ramen shop expanded to three stores thanks to his recipes. Aoki used his money to fund his sibling's school fees and never thought twice about helping his siblings. Aoki had a delinquent past with long-time friend and schoolmate Kimura Tatsuya. Together they would pick fights and wreak havoc frequently until they met and attacked Takamura Mamoru in an arcade. Takamura was given a concussion by Aoki by kicking his head into an arcade screen, but Takamura retaliates with a German suplex and defeats Aoki, leading him and Kimura on a path of revenge- their goal being Takamura in the end. After several failed attempts Aoki and Kimura found their way to Kamogawa Boxing Gym where they find Takamura. There, they were introduced to boxing, and trained with a single goal of defeating Takamura in mind. Upon their winning of their individual debut matches the two realised that Takamura was no longer just their 'goal' but their inspiration and idol as well. Part I Early Days Arc In the anime, Aoki watches Makunouchi Ippo and Miyata Ichirō's spar. After the end of the spar, he introduces himself to Ippo. On Ippo's first day at the gym, Aoki and Kimura Tatsuya attempts to train him, however they are stopped by Kamogawa Genji. While Ippo is training, Aoki serves Ippo and the others ramen at his restaurant. Before the second spar, Aoki acts as Miyata's sparring partner. When the spar rematch arrives, Aoki is seen watching Ippo's and Miyata's sparring match. When Yagi Haruhiko reveals Ippo's pro debut match is Oda Yūsuke, Aoki suggests it will be an easy fight. At Chuuka Soba, Aoki serves Ippo and the others ramen, he then does fortune telling with cards, he pulls out a card that shows Ippo will win. Aoki acts as Ippo's sparring partner and throws up due to Ippo's Body Blows. Aoki, along with the others, watch Ippo's fight with Oda, then celebrates after Ippo's first win. Rookie King Tournament: First Rounder Arc After sparring with Ippo, Kimura celebrates Ippo's first year in the Kamogawa Boxing Gym at the Chuuka Soba. Aoki explains how his Rookie King Tournament went, however he gets upset when Takamura points out how his opponent that beat him in the first match wasn't good. When Jason Ozuma is announced as Ippo's first opponent in the East Japan Rookie King Tournament, Aoki and the others believe it to not be his real name until his profile is shown to be American. As Ippo isn't used to fighting black boxers, Aoki paints himself black, it successfully eases Ippo as they get ready to spar. Aoki watches the match between Ippo and Ozuma. With Ippo being fired up from watching Miyata's match, Aoki and Kimura spars with him. When Takamura sees Ippo's nose act up, thinking about a girl, Aoki warns him that he won't go up in the world thinking only about girls. He explains to Ippo that he had girl troubles before. After watching a tape of Hayami Ryūichi fighting, Aoki tells Ippo that he wants to help him defeat Hayami by doing roadwork and sparring with him. Aoki attends the training camp. On the final night at the training camp, Aoki wishes to get a Japan title belt as he watches fireworks. When he and the others get back to the gym, Yagi shows everyone the poster of Takamura match against the Japanese middleweight champion and Ippo's match against Kobashi Kenta. Aoki attends Ippo's match against Kobashi Kenta, and Takamura's Japanese middleweight title match against Yajima Yoshiaki. When Takamura went down, Kimura and the other's cheers helped Takamura stand up. After Ippo's win and Takamura wins the champions belt, Aoki celebrates along with everyone. Rookie King Tournament: Finals Arc After Hayami Ryūichi's match against Yasukawa Kazu, Aoki has a match against an unnamed opponent and wins. Aoki helps Ippo learn how to use counters for his match against Hayami. Aoki attends Ippo's match against Hayami. Aoki attends Ippo's match against Mashiba Ryō. Class A Tournament: The Speed Star Arc Class A Tournament: The Red Wolf Arc Heartbroken Arc Road Back Arc Mountain Training Arc Lallapallooza Arc Execution Arc First Step Arc Bloody Cross Arc Revenge Arc Proof of Power Arc Battle of Hawk Arc Part II Submarine Wars Arc Comic Show Arc Dragon Slayer Arc A Passing Point Arc The Spirit of a Weed Arc Siege Card Arc Phantom Card Arc Veteran Card Arc Chaos Arc Seiken Arc Scratch Arc Winner Takes All Arc Red Lightning Arc In The Jungle Arc Blind Step Arc Speed Zone Arc For the most part Aoki's fights in the series are not as major or impactive on the general storyline. However, in his most recent fight against Iga Shinobu (and his coach Kurita Baron, a former member of the Kamogawa Gym), Aoki was beaten badly and landed himself in the hospital. Given the option to retire with Kimura after their considerably lengthy careers Aoki refuses, and is determined then to stay in the lightweight class until he defeats Iga, whom he now considers his goal and rival. Takamura is then seen commenting on how stubborn both Aoki and Kimura are. Proud Wolf Arc Go to the World Arc Battle of the Beasts Arc Unseen Heights Arc 10 Months in the Making Arc Part III Second Step Arc After Ippo decided to help as a second for Kimura's upcoming match, he joins Aoki, Kimura, and Itagaki while doing roadwork. Aoki and Itagaki believe that since they are still active, it will probably be tough for Ippo to keep up with them. So they decide to leave Kimura to Ippo, so they can step on the gas. Except, they find out that Ippo is already in front of them again asking about how the coach is doing. Aoki mentions to Ippo that Kamogawa went to Nekota's place to get some rest, and they don't know when he will be back. They continue to discuss with Ippo about Kimura's opponent, while Ippo keep running back and forth between themselves. Aoki later on attends Kimura's match. During Hayami's match before it, Itagaki asks Aoki about Hayami's current ranking, but he surprised to find out he isn't ranked. After he learns about Hayami's fight record, he is shocked that Hayami is still boxing. After Hayami loses his match, Aoki watches Ippo's antics as a second for Kimura's match. Kimura was able to win his match with Ippo's help. After the match, Takamura, Aoki and Itagaki goes karaoke as Ippo and Kimura head home. With Ippo as his second, Aoki has a match that ends with a KO after using the Frog Punch. Taihei Arc After saving Teru from some bullies, Ippo takes him to the Kamogawa Boxing Gym to try boxing. Aoki was impressed of Teru's drawing skill when Teru draws a picture to put on the sandbag, but ends up disappointed when he punches the sandbag. Later, Aoki and Tomiko stops by the Márquez. When they come up to the counter, Aoki asks if the reason why Miyata's last match was bad, was because of weight management or because of a certain someone's retirement, Miyata avoids the question. As Aoki leaves, he claims Miyata shouldn't wait any longer and move up to the next stage. When Ippo visits the gym, he began mitt practising with Kamogawa. Outside, Aoki, along with the rest of the Kamogawa group watches. Aoki believes Ippo and Kamogawa were the perfect combo. Aoki is hopeful for Ippo to come back, but Kimura believes that if Ippo takes any hits, it would cause serious problems. After Ippo is in shock for hitting Taihei, Umezawa carries him to the Chuuka Soba. Aoki tries to comfort Ippo, suggesting to forget about the situation, as he didn't hit Taihei with a closed fist and only fainted. Ippo announces he will turn himself in, as he is a former Japanese champion who lashed out on a high school student. When Takamura, Itagaki, and Kimura arrive at the Chuuka Soba, Aoki tells them that he left to turn himself in to the police. After hearing from Teru on how Taihei used to get into fights because of his older brother, Aoki and Takamura believe that Taihei's problems are his brother's fault. Teru worries about Ippo getting a criminal record, but Kimura states that Ippo's fists are full of justice and that whatever happens, nothing will change the bond that he and the gym members have with him. At the gym, while talking about the situation with Ippo and Taihei, Takamura comes to a conclusion that the real villain is Taihei's older brother and prepares to show off his "Special 7-Years Killing: 100 Shots" that he will use on him. A bald Ippo comes into the gym and asks for Kamogawa in order to say his apologises. When Taihei, along with Kintarō Kaneda, joins the gym under Ippo's training, Aoki notices Taihei. Kimura reveals to Ippo that Taihei is Aoki's little brother. After Aoki and Taihei is remembered from a TV show called "Heartwarming Special Presents: The Hectic Life of an 11-Person Family", Aoki and Taihei argue about their family's struggle when Aoki left them. Aoki tells Taihei how he never thought twice about helping him and the other siblings. Takamura, after finding out that Aoki is the older brother, uses the "Special 7-Years Killing: 100 Shots" on him as punishment for making Taihei get into fights. Post-Taihei Arc At the Kamogawa Boxing Gym, while watching Takamura messing with Ippo, Taihei and Kintarō, Kimura asks how Aoki feels about Taihei becoming a boxer. He replies that he will just have to watch over him. Later, Aoki attends Mashiba Ryō OPBF Title Defence against Iga Shinobu with Kimura. Aoki wishes that Iga loses in order for him to not get a world ranking. When Kimura tells him that Mashiba will "execute" him, Aoki asks Kimura if he knew what Mashiba had in mind when he issued the challenge. Aoki explains to Kimura the reason Mashiba called out Iga. Saying that Mashiba has black stars on his record, being the drawn out fight against Kimura, and losing to Sawamura. Kimura realises that fighting Iga will prove he is qualified to take on the world. Match History Appearance Aoki has a tanned complexion with a body build that fits an orthodox lightweight in-fighter. He has curly dark brown hair in a short afro hair style with a prominent hairline. During his delinquent days, he had a more noticeable prominent hairline with shorter hair. He has dark brown eyes, large nose and pointed ears. In addition, Aoki has relatively short thick eyebrows and a wrinkle on his forehead. At one point, Takamura cut Aoki's hair into a broccoli hair style. Personality During his youth, Aoki was known for his troubled school life as a delinquent. He, along with long-time friend Kimura, were known to participate in countless fights and brawls with 'rival' schools, with Aoki being the more aggressive and violent of the two. Throughout the series Aoki has shown a rather immature, mischievous and boastful personality, contrary to Kimura who is generally more laid back. Despite his often tough-looking demeanor, his overconfidence and goofy personality in and outside the ring usually earn him the frequent ridicule of other characters, and he is usually the butt of many of Takamura's pranks and attacks. Due to this, many characters, even to an extent Ippo, indirectly look down on and sympathize with Aoki and his embarrassing antics. However, he is mostly easygoing and is able to get along well with others, also usually being the one to help Ippo out with his girl-problems when around Kumi. A long-running gag is that Aoki keeps revealing impressive talents, that sadly have no connection with boxing. His prankster personality extends to his own teammates and is most notably reflected in his attitude towards Ippo and (at times) Takamura. Together with Kimura, he is paired into the Aokimura duo by Itagaki Manabu. Aoki's taste in women is seen as a running joke where, in contrast to the tastes of his gym mates, Aoki places his preferences in women considered 'ugly' by everyone else. Aoki admits that he gets nervous around beautiful women, specifically his ex-girlfriend Miyuki (who was caught cheating on Aoki with another guy), and is unable to make any further advances on them. However, surprisingly, Aoki seems to be very kind towards women and he himself prefers to judge them firsthand not by their looks, but as a person, unlike Kimura and Takamura. Even though he may have a taste for 'ugly' girls, he is able to hold a girlfriend, Tomiko, longer then any other members of the group. Fighting Style Despite not being a terrible boxer overall, Aoki's boxing is largely downplayed in the series, making him pale in comparison to boxers like Takamura, Ippo, Itagaki and oftentimes, Kimura. His outlandish personality is usually reflected in his boxing matches where, due to his comparatively unexceptional boxing skills, he constantly thinks of odd techniques to deceive and confuse opponents. He uses unorthodox methods to ruin his opponents' rhythm; it was stated by Kimura that no one is better at ruining a boxer's rhythm than Aoki. He is also a decent out-boxer, and able to switch from orthodox to southpaw. Lacking any special skills to speak of, Aoki's matches tend to end up becoming extremely messy mud fights, much to the displeasure of his audiences. Eventually, his 'Frog Punch' became a trademark and earned him the nickname 'Leap Frog' or 'Frog Man' by his audiences. It is then mentioned by characters in the series that Aoki's boxing ability can be comparable to that of a national champion's. Techniques *Frog Punch *Double Punch *Spinning Corkscrew *Look Away *Play Dead *Swamp Weaknesses Because of a previous right straight from Takamura that caused him to flinch every time he faced a right straight in the ring, Aoki's potential was held back a significant amount. This has made him easier to hit, making him lose patience and resulting in the many "mud fights" he's had throughout the years, but this was fixed by having him wear special headgear while having Takamura throw repeated right straights at him. Takamura also admits that Aoki's natural boxing ability can be greater of that of Kimura's should he overcome his weakness. Trivia *According to Takamura, Aoki masturbates a lot. *On top of being a skilled boxer, Aoki is incredibly skilled in baseball, bowling and cooking. *After his declared 'loss' against Papaya Dachiu, Aoki's hair was cut in a broccoli style. This style quickly grew in fame with kids and generated a new popular franchise Broccoman (ブロッコマン, lit. burokkoman) *Despite his age, Aoki does not know how to swim. *Aoki is a fan of boxing legend, Roberto Duran. *In Round 151, Morikawa lists Aoki's fight record as 14 matches - 10 wins, 4 losses, 4 KO's prior to the semi-final match for the Class A Tournament. However, in the match poster for his title match with Katsutaka Imae, Morikawa lists Aoki's record as 16 matches - 10 wins, 6 losses, 6 KO's. Even though Aoki's fought in 4 matches since Round 151. Based on Round 151 record, Aoki's current record is 27 matches - 17 wins, 7 losses, 3 draws. Other Links *Aoki Masaru/Gallery References Category:Male characters Category:Active boxers Category:Characters from Japan Category:Kamogawa Boxing Gym Category:Lightweights Category:Boxers Category:Unorthodox Boxers Category:Team Aoki Category:Characters from Tokyo Category:Characters Category:Aoki Family